Is there a difference between being a drunkard and
being an alcoholic?
Are addictions the result of disease or genetics,
or is it a matter of the heart?
Can an addiction be overcome without the help of pop
psychology?

These are questions that the author of the following
article tries to answer. It is his prayer and hope that
you will read it and find the insights within challenging
and hopeful.

Scroll down to read the article......

20 YEARS A DRUNKARD BUT NEVER AN
ALCOHOLICIS THERE A DIFFERENCE?

Back in my drinking days when someone in a bar asked what
the difference was between a drunk and an alcoholic,
Id grin and reply, us drunks dont have
to go to meetings. That was when I was a practicing
and experienced drinker, in my late thirties. However,
there truly is a difference and Ill begin by
stating my definition of drunkard: anyone who drinks four
or more alcoholic beverages every day and gets drunk
three or more times each month. I secretly knew that
drinking was a problem for me but I kept right on making
jokes and continuing in such foolishness, until I hit
bottom. Im certain that all drunkards have reached
that lowest point of all lows and have chosen to deal
with the problem in a variety of ways: some continue in
the same destructive lifestyle; others try to quit on
their own (and thousands have succeeded) and still others
try the way of the recovery movement.

The path that I eventually chose did not happen instantly
but began with the moment that I finally decided to do
something positive about my messed-up life. However,
within a few short years it would enable me to say that I
was a former drunkard! If you are a potential
problem drinker, I hope that youll read my story
and be encouraged to strive for a new and better life.
That life-changing day for me began early on a morning
not unlike hundreds of others that I had experienced in
recent years. It was similar in that I knew that I had
been really blitzed the night before: foul taste in my
mouth, pounding headache, that tired, achy feeling all
over and the shame of not remembering any details of the
last hour or so before I passed out. But this particular
morning was far worse because of two other things: I was
38 years old and should have been at home with my wife
and four kids but instead had been kicked out of that
home the day before. That was my major problem as I awoke
about 5:30 a.m. Adding to my shame, I was in my car and
it was parked in the driveway of a home that Id
never seen before!

After starting the
car, I backed out, drove to the nearest intersection and
discovered that I was about eight blocks from my favorite
tavern in Moses Lake, Washington. I drove to a restaurant
and was thankful that there were only a few customers
there as I quickly made my way to the mens room. As
I washed my face and straightened out my hair I saw the
lump on my right forehead and the bruises and scratches
on my right cheek. Because I also had very sore spots on
my right elbow and shoulder, I assumed that I had taken a
bad fall the previous night, in the tavern or on the way
to my car. I also guessed that I had then been driving
around, deciding where to spend the night when I had
probably spotted a police car and ducked off the main
drag, parking temporarily in that driveway where Id
awakened. With engine and lights off, I had probably
stared at the rear view mirror and decided to wait and
watch for the patrol car for a few minutes but instead
had passed out.

Leaving the mens room, I ordered a cup of coffee to
go and returned to my car. I sat in the car, sipping the
coffee and pondering these recent events in my life: my
wife informing me that she had started divorce
proceedings and that I had to leave the home, according
to the legal notice she handed me, signed by the Grant
County Sheriff. She had packed all my clothes and
personal belongings in a suitcase and smaller bag, which
were now in the trunk of the car along with the legal
document. I drove to a fast-food place and had more
coffee and a breakfast sandwich as I continued this
review of the most recent events in my life. How did my
life get so messed up? By my third cup of coffee, my mind
was in fast reverse to 1949, the summer following my
graduation from high school in Grants Pass, Oregon.

I had only drunk beer three or four times during high
school but did not care for the taste of it. I joined the
Army when I was 17. After basic training and clerk-typist
school, I was assigned to Tokyo, Japan, serving in
General Headquarters, Far East Command, under the command
of General Douglas Macarthur. One week after I arrived in
Tokyo, the Korean War began.

During my stateside training periods I had drunk beer
several nights a month and gradually developed a taste
for it. After a few months in Tokyo I had several
friends, mostly from the same office that I worked in. We
all enjoyed drinking beer, some a bit more than others,
but in a year or so I was up to speed with the
regular drinkers. I got buzzed frequently and
quite drunk several times a month. I was discharged a few
months before my 21st birthday and spent less than two
years at the University of Oregon before quitting and
going to work in the consumer finance business.

I had been one of the party animals in
college, heading for Robinsons Tavern or
spontaneous parties as often as I could afford it,
However, I was now a young married man working for modest
wages. My wife and I attended parties about once a month
and I did moderate social drinking with business
associates a couple of times per month. In retrospect, my
drinking habits then were drastically different than when
I had been in the army. Now, as a young, married career
man, my drinking hobby was curtailed
primarily by insufficient income.

By
age 33, there were major changes in my life. I had been
divorced, remarried and found myself living in the small
town of Ephrata, Washington. I was a finance man in the
construction business. It was there that I eventually got
into the sales of farm buildings and began earning more
income. I also began drinking more.

It was during this period that I became a working
drunk, that is to say I got up every weekday, went
to work and earned an adequate income. But my hours away
from work were heavily involved with drinking and it was
beginning to take its toll on my life in several ways. I
had been involved in commission sales for about 5 years
but now I was bringing less income home for two reasons:
I was not working as effectively as I had earlier in my
sales career and I was spending more money on booze,
sometimes during weekdays. In addition, my marriage was
also deteriorating, primarily because of my drunkenness.
My wife also enjoyed drinking, but not to the
life-dominating extent that I did. At this point in our
life, we were arguing fairly often. I frequently abused
her verbally, especially on those nights that we had both
been drinking. I was having problems in several areas of
my life but ignoring them all. I was jolted into a
reality check when I was required to move out of the
home. And here I was the next morning, finishing a
fast-food breakfast, reminiscing over my life history and
wishing I could live it all over again.

Over the next week I arranged to move in temporarily with
an acquaintance from the tavern. I also decided to
greatly reduce the quantities of my daily drinking.
Instead of drinking from about 4:00 p.m. until bedtime
(euphemism for passing out) I would stop at
the tavern after work for three beers and then fix
something for dinner at my friends place. About
8:30, I would stroll back to the tavern for a couple of
more beers, winding up in bed sober before 10:00 p.m.

I loved our four
children but had lost daily contact with them, being
relegated instead to weekly visits for a few hours. I
also loved my wife and told her so in a phone
conversation a couple of weeks after moving out. I also
told her about the drastic cuts in my drinking habits. I
begged her to give me another chance, but she wanted no
part of me. I hated this domestic mess I was now in but
recognized that I had brought it upon myself. Drunk,
sober, or somewhere in between, I found myself weeping on
many nights. I also finally acknowledged to myself that
booze was my major problem and that I could not cut
down on the amounts consumed but had to quit
entirely. I meant it and made that very difficult
decision to quit altogether, but knew that such a major
transition would be quite difficult.

We had become slightly religious during the
last few years of our marriage, attending a Lutheran
church in Ephrata, Washington, once or twice a month. One
Saturday, Diane and I had decided to go to church
the next day, but she woke up with the flu and stayed
home. The kids really enjoyed Sunday school, so I
took them and attended the second service.
After making the introduction to his sermon, the pastor
read the love chapter, I Corinthians
13. I had never heard it before and was quite
impressed. I briefly shared my enthusiasm with my
wife when we got home and told her Id like to read
it to her. We had a dust-covered Bible in the
bedroom and I got it, sitting on the edge of the bed to
look for that particular chapter. However, I was
having difficulty in remembering the name of the book (in
those days, I had poor knowledge about the general
location of the books of the Bible). After
concentrating for a few minutes, I finally decided it
must have been Isaiah! Looking up the page
number in the table of contents, I opened to that general
area. I looked down and saw that I was in chapter
28. Glancing at the first verse, I read:
Woe be unto the proud crown of the drunkards of
Ephraim! I was startled, because in that precise
moment, I felt as though God Himself was speaking
to me! I read it again and returned to the kitchen,
explaining to her that I could not find
it. However, that experience almost haunted
me for the next few days. In retrospect, I see it
as a gentle warning from God but I ignored it. Wed
each been exposed to Christianity as children but had
lost any serious interest by junior high school. As
married adults, we expressed belief in God but had never
seriously investigated Him. There were a few men in that
church we occasionally attended that I considered to be
fanatics. They brought their own
Bibles to church. They spoke about the Lord, in
restaurants and other public places, as though they
actually knew Him! They were never embarrassed about
saying praise the Lord in public. I
didnt understand such activity and wanted nothing
to do with them. However, when it finally began to sink
in that I was not going to talk my wife into
reconciliation, I recognized that I had hit
bottom in life and knew that I needed help. I
decided that I wanted to know more about God and found
myself calling one of those fanatics. We
talked a lot in his home the next night and almost daily
thereafter, frequently with one or two of those other
fanatics. They were helpful and kind,
answering my questions and praying with me. One of them
gave me a Bible and I began reading select chapters
daily. By this time, I had moved back to Ephrata (about
20 miles from Moses Lake) and rented a small room. Some
of what I read in the Bible each day confused me,
resulting in my always having questions for them when we
met.

They also explained the Gospel of the kingdom of God.
Very briefly, it is bad news and good news. BAD
NEWS: You are a sinner. All have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God.  Romans
3:23; The wages of sin is death (eternal
separation from God).  Romans 6:23. GOOD
NEWS: Christ died for you. God demonstrates
His own love toward us, in that while we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:8.
You can be saved through faith. For by grace you
have been saved (delivered from the penalty of sin)
through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift
of God, not of works, that no one should boast.
 Ephesians 2:8, 9. In other words, there is
absolutely nothing that we can do which would be
righteous enough to cancel out our debt of sin and to
reconcile our separation from God How about being kind,
honest and loving? Sorry, and neither will membership in
a particular church. (More on that subject later) God is
Love but He is also Just. For all those who are now in a
correct relationship with Him, such status was attained
only by the Grace of God, because of their repentant
faith in God and their acknowledgment of the atoning work
of the sacrificial death of Jesus for their sins.

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our
behalf  (II Corinthians 5:21)

As an adult, I had never been agnostic. I held a vague
belief in God but had simply been indifferent towards
Him, to the extent that I had never learned about Him and
what, if any, were my responsibilities towards Him; and I
hadnt learned much more during the one or two
sermons we heard each month at that church in Ephrata. I
had been meeting with these godly men (the
fanatics) for breakfast and/or a morning
prayer several times a week for about a month when it all
began to make sense to me. Late in April of 1971, I made
a commitment to Jesus and asked Him to become the Lord of
my life and to forgive me of my sins. On the night of my
39th birthday (May 9, 1971), I had been in my room
reading the Bible, praying and reviewing the events of my
life in recent years. Foremost on my mind were the
divorce proceedings, my many talks with these men and my
recent commitment to Jesus.

That night was the first time that the Holy Spirit
revealed something to me. He showed me (in my heart) that
my commitment had been half-hearted, with
strings attached. Specifically, that I was only
interested in getting my family back, although I was
serious about giving up drinking. I kneeled at my bedside
and acknowledged all this. I also confessed to the
heavenly Father that I was a sinner and knew that my
major problem in life was not booze but the fact that I
was separated from Him by sin and therefore destined to
spend eternity in hell. I repented of my sins and asked
Him to forgive me in Jesus name. I also asked Jesus
to be the Lord of my life and to assist me in being
obedient to Him and His written Word, both outwardly and
in my heart. I was now born again, having been born from
above.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the
right to become children of God, even to those who
believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of
the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of
God (John 1:13)

It took a couple of days for the results of this act to
fully sink in. I then knew what it meant to be set
free in Jesus.

and you will know the truth and the truth will
make you free. (John 8:32)

He had paid my debt of sin on
the cross of Calvary. He was my Lord, raised from the
dead, and His Spirit indwelt me. I was going to spend
eternity with God! I had been forgiven by God for all my
sins. I was now going to experience new life in Christ
Jesus.

I couldnt wait to tell my wife, thinking that she
would not only be delighted for me, but inclined to
discuss reconciliation. Boy was I in for a surprise! She
believed me but was skeptical, based on her unpleasant
life with me in recent years. She was happy for me about
my recent personal decisions but not enough to change her
mind, and proceeded with the divorce. In retrospect, I
cannot fault her decision.

I settled into my new life, starting each day with a time
of reading the Bible and praying. The Lord built me into
a fellowship of true believers from all walks of life. My
closest friendships were with a few people in that
Lutheran church; later, I developed other close
friendships through a non-denominational mens group
that met each week for breakfast. Several years later, in
Orange County, California, I learned that in some very
large congregations, there were special group meetings
whose focus was dealing with the problems of alcohol
abuse. All who attended were either true believers who
Jesus had delivered from drunkenness or were serious
inquirers into Christianity, who currently were dealing
with the sin of drunkenness. These groups were sort of a
Christian version of an AA meeting. I attended a few of
them but eventually decided that all new converts were
far better off by simply getting fully involved in a
fellowship that taught and practiced sound doctrine.
Before we were redeemed, we all had sins which had
easily entrapped us [Hebrews 12:1]. Why
should new or old believers spend a lot of time dwelling
on that past sin in a group setting? I believe that the
key to Christian growth is to be built into a fellowship
that teaches and practices sound doctrine, based solely
on the Bible. We can grow in knowledge there and
eventually be able to help others who are struggling with
sin.

I was enjoying learning more about the Kingdom of God and
looked forward to a regular prayer meeting that I had
begun attending each week as well as spontaneous meetings
after dinner at some of my new friends homes, plus
church on Sunday. Sunday was my best day, beginning with
picking up my children in the morning. We were always
glad to see each other and then off to Sunday school and
church. During the summer, we would have picnics in a
park after church and other times lunch in my little
apartment, followed by other fun activities.

Like most problem drinkers, I had been drinking more each
year than in previous years. For example, at age 29 I was
drinking 8-10 beers each evening, stopping at dinnertime.
Then I started having liquor before dinner and wine with
dinner. By the time I was 38, I was drinking beer and/or
liquor after work and before dinner, then wine during and
after dinner. I once measured my daily consumption by
proof ounces, and determined that my total
daily consumption of all alcohol [age 38] was about the
equivalent of one quart of liquor per day. Because of
this continual, daily intake, I had been extremely
nervous on my first day of abstaining from booze. The
temptation to drink was strong but I had been praying a
lot and the Lord helped me to resist temptation. Things
were a little better the second day; also the third.
After two weeks I felt like a new man, physically,
emotionally and spiritually. I was drawing much closer to
God and the Bible was becoming a little easier to
understand. I learned from my mentors that this was due
to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

In spite of my enjoyment of this new life, I did have a
problem with backsliding during my first few
years as a True Believer. There had been countless
temptations to drink and I resisted most of them with the
Lords help, but fell off the wagon about one month
after my conversion. I got drunk on a Friday night and
continued drinking Saturday afternoon and night. I
stopped by Sunday but did the same thing a couple of
months later. I fell off about 5 times during
the first year and 4 during the second year. During the
third year of my new life in Jesus I noticed that the
time elapsing between these incidents got further and
further apart. After abstaining for 16 months during a
period that began in 1976, there were a couple of
incidents in 1977 and I got drunk for the last time on
January 2, 1978.

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not
inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor
effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the
covetous, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the Kingdom of
God. (I Corinthians 6:9,10)

Now read the incredible freedom expressed in verse
eleven:

Such were
some of you; but you were washed, but you were
sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Thanks be unto you, Most High God. I am not a drunkard,
but a former drunkard!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creature; the old things have passed away; behold, new
things have come (II Corinthians 5:17)

I now believe sincerely that if I had persevered in
prayer during those major times of temptation during my
first few years as a believer, that the incidents of
backsliding would have been far fewer. However, for over
thirty years I have been rejoicing , not because I am a
former drunkard, but that my name has been written in the
Lambs book of Life [Luke 10:20].

How about you?
After reading all the above scriptures and my testimony,
are you ready to acknowledge that you are separated from
God by sin? He loves you and His mercies never come to an
end! Repent, turn to Him and ask for His forgiveness, in
Jesus name. However, if you are still not convinced
but know that something is wrong between you and the
Creator of the universe, then consider this "brave
agnostics prayer."

God, if you are real, I want to know you! Please
reveal Yourself to me as I read a portion of the
Bible. Then, read the Gospel of John and the Book
of Romans.

If you are sincere in that prayer and your search for
Him, you will know [in your heart] within a short time
that He and His Word are the truth! Then, you must make a
decision --- either to accept His loving offer in
repentant faith, receive his forgiveness and to spend
eternity with Him, or to remain in your present state,
destined to experience the wrath of God for eternity.

Some reading this will think that it does not apply to
them because they are not sinners but good persons.
Well, you probably are, if you compare yourself to other
human beings. But God will not judge you by Mans
standards. He holds all of us accountable to His
standards of righteousness, declared in writing in the
Bible: His Word. According to that, we have ALL sinned
and NONE is righteous. While it is impossible for any of
us to attain righteousness in our own strength, in His
love and mercy He has made a way -- the atonement for all
of our sins by the sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God,
on Calvary. That sacrifice was made for all in the world
who would believe on Him.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not
perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

Still others reading this may think that theyre
okay with God because theyre members of a major
Protestant denomination, or the Roman Catholic Church, or
the Mormon Church. If you are thinking that way, think
again. In effect, you have examined Gods plan for
the eternal redemption of your soul and are saying,
well, thats nice God, but Im just as
comfortable with the membership route. What
blasphemous audacity! There are NO acceptable
substitutions for His way, regardless of the religious
rituals and sacraments that you may be practicing.
Church membership, or church attendance, will
not atone for the sins that separate you from God. You
must be born again!

"Jesus answered and said to him, 'Truly, truly, I
say to you unless one is born again he cannot see the
kingdom of God.' Then Nicodemus said to Him, 'How can a
man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time
into his mothers womb and be born can he?' Jesus
answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born
of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom
of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that
which is born of the Spirit is spirit.' (John
3: 3-6)

Still others may think that theyre okay with God
because they answered an altar call 20 years ago[for
example] and said the sinners prayer.
Thats good, if youre following Him in a walk
of faith and obedience now, but if youre still
living the same old life you did before you said that
sinners prayer in the past, that is evidence that you
really dont believe. [See the explanation of the
parable of the sower, Matthew 13:20-22].

I object to the terms alcoholic or
alcoholism because they are not
truthful! They are manifestations of a belief
system that is wrong because it is based on the lie that
drunkenness is a disease, yet there is no scientific
basis for the disease model. To
the secularist, drunkenness is probably a poor or immoral
behavioral choice but to those of us who look to the
Bible for Gods definitions of behavior, drunkenness
is a sin.

By coming to the Lord Jesus Christ in repentant faith, I
became a new creature in Christ according to
II Corinthians 5:17. Therefore, I am no longer a drunkard
but a former drunkard. However those in the
Recovery movement would say that I was born that way and
will still have the disease until I die, even
though I stopped drinking 30 years ago!

Did your search for the solution to your drinking problem
result in your conversion to Christianity? If so, I
encourage you to avoid AA or other such programs.
There is absolutely no need for a born-again Christian to
be involved in such worldly programs. That includes
Christianized 12-step programs such as Rick
Warrens Celebrate Recovery.
For a Biblical critique of such programs please go to:

Gerwin McFarland was a retired insurance
agent. After the 1972 divorce he began praying for a new
wife who shared his faith. He met and married Hilda in
1981. They lived near Tacoma, Washington.

If you have just committed your life and heart to the
Lord Jesus Christ contact the Webmaster
and include your mailing address, as he wants to send you
a helpful booklet and suggestions for finding a local
fellowship that teaches and practices sound doctrine,
based solely on the Bible. Until the Lord directs you to
that place (a local church or home church/assembly) you
need communication with the Lord: reading in His Word
every day and praying as often as you want to, but at
least once daily. Until you have a local mentor to guide
you, here is a simple daily reading plan: spend about 15
minutes in the Old Testament and another 15 in the New
Testament. Work your way through Genesis, Exodus and the
entire New Testament. After you finish Exodus, read all
of the Psalms and Proverbs. Personally, Gerwin prayed for
a few minutes before reading the Scriptures every day and
then additional prayers, as led by the Holy Spirit.

He also highly recommends the book 12 Steps to Destruction, by Martin and Deidre
Bobgan, Eastgate Publishers, Santa Barbara, CA 93110.
Their book goes into greater detail about the ungodly
origins of the 12 Step programs including the
so-called disease of Codependency.